To:
Mayor John Tory

Include Clean Up of Toronto's Ravines in the City's 2019 budget

We believe that the current proposed Toronto 2019 budget does not do enough to address some of the major issues around this city including the clean up of landfill in Toronto's ravines.

Trash has been piling up in the Don ravines covering acres of land, filling dozens of creeks and rivers with thousands of microplastics, ultimately polluting the Don River and Lake Ontario. Plastic works its way up the food chain, our wildlife and into our city's drinking water. This is not just a littering problem, this is a health and safety problem that affects all Torontonians.

Wednesday February 20, Councillor Layton and Councillor Carroll put forward a budget proposal that would scrap planned TTC fare hikes, create new dedicated youth spaces, increase library hours and start a pilot project to pick up litter in the city's ravines. The plans would mean an additional residential property tax increase of approximately 1 per cent, of which the portion for the ravine clean up constitutes a 0.022 per cent increase. The motion was struck down.

I believe the budget committee is making a huge mistake by not funding the ravine clean up plan. I would gladly pay the increased property tax, if that means we can live in a cleaner, safer and healthier environment.

We have until March 7th to finalize the City’s 2019 budget. Please reverse the decision to turn this budget motion down, and include funding for the much-needed clean up of the ravines.

Why is this important?

Toronto's ravines provide a unique wildlife habitat and green space that is visited by hundreds of thousands of people and admired all over the world. The ravines provide home to many wildlife including foxes, deer, beavers, mink, owls, salmon and more. The Don Valley is enjoyed by paddlers, hikers, bikers, runners, wildlife watchers, or people who just want to get away from busy city life.

Unfortunately our ravines are under serious threat, due to increased amounts of garbage and toxic waste filling up the land and the rivers. We find anything from plastic bags, diapers, food containers to car batteries, shopping carts, mattresses and even entire filled garbage bags.

The City needs to devise a plan to clean up the polluted areas and prevent the garbage dumping from happening in the first place. We have an opportunity to do so with Councillor Layton's and Councillor Carroll’s budget proposal that would start a pilot project to pick up litter in the city’s ravines at a cost of $655,400 by increasing property taxes 0.022 per cent.

Is it not worth your while to raise property taxes for less than $1 per homeowner to save the most beautiful parts of our City from being covered by garbage?